For the second year, the Motion Picture Association (MPA) will present its annual “Anti-Piracy Latin American Government Leadership Award” at ShowEast – a convention and trade show for the cinema exhibition and distribution community – on Monday, October 15. This year, the MPA will honor Felipe de Jesús Muñoz Vázquez, Deputy Attorney General of the Office of the Attorney General of Mexico, (PGR – Procuraduria General de la República) in recognition of outstanding efforts against piracy and in the defense of the intellectual property of local and international rights holders.

“We are thrilled to recognize the arduous work that Muñoz Vázquez has conducted over the years against piracy. As chief of the specialized unit of the Office of the Attorney General dedicated to fighting this crime, he has injected boundless energy into combating the actions of those who profit financially from the hard work and creativity of others,” said Steve Solot, Senior Vice President for Latin American Operations of the Motion Picture Association.

The MPA works closely with the Office of the Attorney General, assisting in the development of investigative leads that result in often dramatic police operations in which thousands, and sometimes millions, of bootleg DVDs are seized. By early August, PGR-led operations had resulted in the seizure of 92 million discs, the dismantling of 781 illegal DVD reproduction laboratories, and eight factories engaged in the production and packaging of pirated audiovisual products. Since 2007, 202 individuals have been arrested in these operations.

The worldwide motion picture industry loses $18 billion annually to global film piracy. An estimated eight out of 10 DVDs sold in Mexico are of pirate origin, and are sold primarily at the 160 illegal street markets spread throughout 70 Mexican cities. The audiovisual industry overall lost more than US$ 1.1 billion in Mexico in 2005 due to piracy, while the Mexican government lost approximately $167 million in uncollected tax revenue during that same period.